Weekends are for Thrifting, right?

JT and I hit up the Green Shag Market this weekend. After seeing it on Mister Modtomic’s blog and realizing it was a mere 2.3 miles from my house, there was no resisting. With an open span of time on Saturday I could have spent on all of my 50 ongoing projects, I couldn’t ignore the siren call of a new and unexplored antique mall so gosh-darn close by.

And it was worth it . . . .

There have been many-a-time that I have browsed through aisle after aisle of an antique mall (junk mall in my mind) and come away with nothing that just needed to come home with me. This weekend I found two things — an amazingly non-smelly Pendleton wool blanket and a vinyl ottoman I’m pretty sure my grandparents owned at some point in the 70s.

What with it being a bone chilling 10 degrees out, a wool blanket seemed like a no-brainer. I loved the colors and pattern and then I saw the little blue tag.

See, you don’t have to go to Target for designer names. And it was $30 less than a nearly identical one I found on eBay.

Shenanigan quickly proved himself the world’s best circus dog by trying out the ottoman. I think because of his short little stubby legs, he likes to have a higher vantage point and gets up on everything. We even find him laying across the top of the sofa sometimes like a 55 pound tabby cat.

I had been eyeing all the knitted poufs that seem to be all the rage now (see this one at cb2) and considering trying to maybe D.I.Y. one of those so I’m glad we stumbled upon this ottoman instead. I don’t really have time to finish all the current D.I.Y. projects I have going on, let alone start a new one. For now both thrifty picks have found their way into the music room but at this house, things move around . . . a lot!

We had some friends over for brunch on Sunday (yay New Year’s resolution in action!) and one of our friends said “Where do you FIND all this stuff?” It was interesting to step back and look at our house through the eyes of others. While JT and I are thoroughly enmeshed in a world of thrift and vintage, not everyone shops that way. I like to think of it as being environmentally conscious and trying not to buy something new when a used version exists that might find its way into the landfill.

Underneath it all, I think I nurture a strange pride at being able to pull together inexpensive items and make our home feel warm and inviting and not cheap. There’s also the thrill of the hunt. It’s fun (for me) to “pick”. (I must clarify though, I’m a mid-level scavenger. I’m willing to pay a little more to people who have already done some of the digging and leg work for me.) And so while it may seem strange to some people, I still find it a compliment when people marvel at all the miscellaneous items in our home. We’ll call it eclectic and everybody wins.

Update: After I published this, I realized it was our 100th post. Since gratuitous pet pictures are our thing, I thought I would add one of Shenanigan the circus dog giving me a low five as a small congratulations on #100.